Payton's first move back is right one

BATON ROUGE - Something was obviously up by the way newly reinstated New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton spoke during an interview on WWL Radio in New Orleans last Wednesday - one day after having his suspension lifted two weeks early by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.

Payton made it clear more than once that he was in the process of reviewing not only the performances of the Saints players during the 7-9 season in 2012, but the coaches as well.

Payton made the right move at the right time. Some had said Payton's first move was going to be to find the anonymous player who spoke to New Orleans Times Picayune writer Larry Holder, who then wrote a story quoting the player ripping Spagnuolo. And Payton was going to get rid of that player.

So far, Payton has not killed the messenger, which is something that should not be done - particularly if the message is right.

Payton and general manager Mickey Loomis will likely overhaul the personnel on the Saints defense, so it makes sense just to start over with new personnel under the headsets as well. Payton was going to be coaching his first season with Spagnuolo and Flajole anyway since he hired them shortly before getting suspended for the entire season for the bounty scandal. So why not bring in two different newbies who do not have the worst season on defense in NFL history on their resume.

Spagnuolo's defense was a disgrace to the Saints franchise and to NFL. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think that there could be a Saints defense worse than the "Flex" of late head coach Dick Nolan in 1978-80. But Spagnuolo found it.

In 2012, the Saints allowed the most yards in a season in recorded NFL history with 7,041 or 440.1 a game. Read that sentence again. In 2012, the Saints allowed the most yards in a season in recorded NFL history with 7,041 or 440.1 a game.

The next worst defense in the NFL last season was the New York Giants coming in at No. 31 with 383.4 yards allowed a game. Yes, the Saints defense did get better later in the season, but it would have been hard not to get better after the foundation laid by Spagnuolo.

In the end, the Saints also finished last in the NFL in rushing defense (147.6 yards a game) and second to last in both passing defense (292.6 yards a game) and points allowed (28.4). They were a complete defense - completely bad in all areas.

It was not all Spagnuolo's fault. The Saints are thin on talent on defense and are getting old on that side of the ball, but what Spagnuolo managed to do was drain the very worst out of his unit. Spagnuolo also proved just how great a defensive coordinator Gregg Williams was with the Saints. Williams got the absolute best out of limited talent for most of three seasons in New Orleans from 2009-11, and Goodell needs to reinstate that coach immediately.

If Payton is free, Williams should have been freed beforehand.

"There were things I was being told to do in this scheme that I've never heard of," veteran linebacker Scott Shanle told the Picayune. "And I've played for four different defensive coordinators."

Spagnuolo refused to incorporate 3-4 alignments into his defense. He stuck to his 4-3 even when the 4 quickly began to stand for 400 yards a game instead of four down linemen.

Now, Payton is on the hunt for a 3-4 defensive coach. Perhaps it will be former Kansas City head coach Romeo Crennel, who was the defensive coordinator at New England when the Patriots had a real defense and won Super Bowls in the 2001, '03 and '04 seasons.

Payton made a mistake in hiring a 4-3 coach in the first place, but at least he now sees the mistake he made - among a few other ones with regard to the bounty scandal.

Payton also must realize that without a great defensive coordinator like Williams, he has neither a Super Bowl ring nor a new $7.5 million contract.

Payton's defensive coordinator hire will be the most important of the rest of his Saints career.

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Payton's first move back is right one

BATON ROUGE - Something was obviously up by the way newly reinstated New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton spoke during an interview on WWL Radio in New Orleans last Wednesday - one day after